Richard Simmons launches ROCK YOUR RICHARD campaign for charity this Halloween.

LOS ANGELES, CA, October 1, 2015 – Beloved fitness guru RICHARD SIMMONS is launching a simple way for people to share a smile and fund a good cause this Halloween season.

ROCK YOUR RICHARD (facebook.com/TheWeightSaint) is a new campaign that invites fans to dress as Richard this Halloween and after posting the photo on Richard’s Facebook page, he will make a contribution to one of four participating charities that are close to his heart.

The benefiting charities are:

1. Best Friends Animal Society – bestfriends.org
2. Disabled American Veterans – dav.org
3. Project Angel Food – angelfood.org
4. Volunteers of America – voa.org

The idea came about because Richard, who is absent from the public scene due to a nagging knee injury, receives hundreds of photos each year from people that dress like him for Halloween.  He thought it would be an ideal way to also bring into focus those who are in need as the holiday season approaches.
“I see plenty of ‘Richards’ each Halloween and I hope that makes people smile," said Simmons from his home in Los Angeles. "Why not also reward those willing to don my tank top and shorts this year?”

"There is not a more iconic and immediately identifiable look than that of Richard Simmons," said Michael Catalano, Richard’s longtime manager.  "I was with Richard last week and we thought wouldn’t it be fun for people to dress like him and fund a good cause? The effort has the inimitable spirit of Richard written all over it,” said Catalano.

Catalano continued, “we are asking Richard’s many friends in the media to support the effort by sharing the link to the campaign (facebook.com/TheWeightSaint) across their social platforms.”

Beginning October 15th, fans will have the ability to post photos of themselves in their Richard costumes and vote for the ones they think are best by “liking” the photo.  On November 2, we will announce the top ten most liked submissions and how much money has been raised for charity via the effort.